Hamas to Begin Hostage Release Ahead of Trump-Led Peace Summit in Egypt
Exchange deal precedes high-stakes Sharm el-Sheikh summit aimed at ending Gaza war and launching Trump’s new Middle East peace plan
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) — Hamas will begin releasing Israeli hostages held in Gaza on Monday morning as part of a landmark prisoner exchange deal, a senior official from the Palestinian group told AFP, ahead of an international summit in Egypt chaired by U.S. President Donald Trump to advance his new Middle East peace plan.
According to Hamas official Osama Hamdan, the group will free 20 Israeli captives believed to still be alive in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, including 250 serving life sentences.
“According to the signed agreement, the prisoner exchange is set to begin on Monday morning as agreed,” Hamdan said.
The exchange marks the first phase of a broader deal brokered through Qatari and Egyptian mediation following two years of conflict sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel.
Later that day, Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will co-chair a summit of more than 20 nations in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, aimed at “ending the war in Gaza, achieving regional stability, and ushering in a new era of peace,” the Egyptian presidency said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Italian and Spanish leaders Giorgia Meloni and Pedro Sanchez, and French President Emmanuel Macron are among those expected to attend.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s participation remains uncertain, while Hamas has confirmed it will not take part directly in the talks.
Despite cautious optimism, negotiators still face major challenges in securing a long-term political settlement. Hamas political bureau member Hossam Badran acknowledged that the next phase of Trump’s plan “contains many complexities,” while another Hamas official insisted that disarmament was “out of the question.”
Under the proposal, Israeli forces would gradually withdraw from Gaza’s cities, replaced by a multinational force from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, coordinated by a U.S.-led command center in Israel.
U.S. Central Command chief Admiral Brad Cooper, Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, and senior adviser Jared Kushner visited Gaza on Saturday, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians were returning to the ruins of their homes.
Later, Witkoff, Kushner, and Ivanka Trump met in Tel Aviv with families of remaining hostages, who expressed cautious hope after months of anguish.
“We finally feel hope, but we cannot and will not stop now,” said Zairo Shachar Mohr Munder, whose uncle was among those abducted in 2023.
Gaza’s civil defense agency said more than half a million residents had returned to Gaza City by Saturday evening, many finding their neighborhoods reduced to rubble.
“I stood before it and cried. All those memories are now just dust,” said Raja Salmi, 52, upon discovering her destroyed home in the Al-Rimal district.
The UN reported that Israel has allowed the entry of 170,000 tons of humanitarian aid if the fragile ceasefire endures.
Israeli officials have repeatedly emphasized that their military operations in Gaza target Hamas militants and infrastructure, not civilians, accusing the group of using residential areas, hospitals, and schools as shields for its fighters.
Israel maintains that Hamas bears full responsibility for the devastation in Gaza, arguing that the militant group’s October 7, 2023, attacks and continued rocket fire left it with no choice but to act to protect its citizens and ensure the group’s permanent defeat.
